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PIERRE YVES MONNERVILLE WAS AMONG THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHERS WHOM WE PUBLISHED. AFTER HIS BEAUTIFULMAG DEBUT WE HAVE FOLLOWED HIM FOR SEVERAL YEARS UNTIL WE, SOMEHOW, LOST CONTACT. NEVER ON PURPOSE. SIMPLY THE RESULT OF HOW FAST TIMES FLIES. BUT OLD LOVE NEVER DIES, SO WHEN PIERRE YVES CONTACTED US RECENTLY, WE SIMPLY PICKED UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF.Pierre-Yves Monnerville was born in the French capital Paris, but finds his roots on Martinique. The talented photographer now lives and works in the UK. His work is a wonderful example of mix ‘n match. Not only in composition and model choice, but also in concept. Pierre-Yves is a delicious creative talent, capable of mixing strong photographic visuals with deep, thoughtful musings, adding a whole new dimension to the concept of photographic stories.Having discovered the work of Robert Mapplethorpe at the early age of 15 made Pierre-Yves Monnerville decide male photography was what he wanted to do. He started working for model agencies in Paris and London, but more and more he found his way in his own personal work, creating his own personal style. His concepts always turn around urban life…and urban guys…But going beyond the labels Pierre Yves is more interested in people’s feelings and love, exploring what we have in common despite our superficial differences whether it’s loneliness, search for validation, love and companionship, etc. Those are the elements that make a person, and those are the elements that make a picture come to life. His work with Steven is a perfect example of that. Pierre-Yves Monnerville met Steven Araujo, a gorgeous personal trainer from NYC, through Instagram where he has an account under the name Summerbody. Understandably, Steven has thousands of followers. He’s not just good looking. He’s also very humble and down to earth. He regularly posts videos demonstrating workouts and is always so humble and genuine in his advice and comments. And that is exactly the kind of mix Pierre Yves likes to capture with his photography. “I see in him a great kindness and a very strong but quiet and reserved personality. I hope it translates in the photos,” he says. “We've shot twice so far. I was a bit nervous to even message him at first but he’s so laid back and nice that I can’t see how anyone could not get on with him.”–BM-PIERRE-YVES MONNERVILLE | BEAUTIFULMAGSTEVEN ARAUJO | BEAUTIFULMAG

IT IS DECEMBER AND THAT MEANS THAT IT IS BY DEFINITION THE MONTH OF CELEBRATIONS. REGARDLESS THE FACT CHRISTMAS IS A CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY, IT IS CELEBRATED PRETTY MUCH WORLDWIDE AND ALLOWS FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS OFF FOR EVERYBODY. I GUESS THIS IS ONE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT NOBODY IS COMPLAINING ABOUT.Christmas is also the time when people buy presents for each other, are nice to each other, cook delicious meals and share with each other. In other words, a period of warmth and generosity. And for some it doesn’t stop there. Or better said, begin there. Because in a handful of countries they also celebrate Saint Nicolas.Nikolaos of Myra was born on March 15 in the year 270 and grew up to become Bishop of Myra. Born at Patara, Lycia in Asia Minor – now Turkey – Nikolaos started making pilgrimages at very young age already, which brought him to the areas of Egypt and Palestine. All together nothing really exceptional for the only son of a wealthy Greek family living in the Roman Empire. Except, Nikolaos was nothing but exceptional. Very religious as he was, he devoted his life to the well being of others and it is said that during his travels he has done many miracles. One of them was the resurrection of three small boys that were killed by a malicious butcher in order to sell them as ham during a time of terrible famine. Hard to believe but then again there have been more resurrections according to the Holy Script, so why not.Fact is, Nikolaos was a generous man who had a reputation of secretly giving small presents to children, making their mostly miserable lives just a little bit better. Because of this and the miracles he attributed to his intercession, he became known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, and, long after his death, Saint Nicholas. And in that role he still plays a part in our current lives. In certain countries, such as the Netherlands, his death anniversary – December 5 - is celebrated by present giving. Traditionally an event for children, adults celebrate it as well, making the Saint Nicholas celebration almost a second Christmas in December. And so we decided, together with photographer Gert Kist, to keep the tradition alive.Freddie is a 23 years old Venezuelan who visited the Netherlands last summer. The reason for his visit is the fact he has a Dutch girlfriend, but let’s not talk about that. Fact is that his good looks didn’t go by unnoticed and while staying in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, he got in contact with a photographer who, in his turn, made Freddie meet Gert Kist. End of story with the visual result displayed here today. We thought this would make a nice Saint Nicholas present for all of you, even if you are not familiar celebrating it. More over, it is a nice warm up for Christmas because, talking about traditions, Christmas will bring us more eye candy from Gert Kist. –BM-GERT KIST | BEAUTIFULMAG

HUNKVERTISING. IT IS A PHENOMENON THAT OVER THE PAST YEARS OR SO SILENTLY MADE ITS ENTRANCE IN OUR SOCIETY AND NOW WE ARE STUCK WITH IT. THE PERFECT MEN WITH THEIR PERFECT FACES AND MORE THEN PERFECT BODIES, PROMOTING WHATEVER THEY ARE HIRED TO PROMOTE, WHILST AT THE SHAMING US IN ACTION. HUNKS ARE EVERYWHERE THESE DAYS, BUT LETS FACE IT. THERE ARE WORSE THINGS IN LIFE THAN THAT.Showing perfection. The ideal. It is nothing new. Women have had to deal with projecting themselves on the unreachable image of top models for decades. And now it is our turn. TV ads are using the best looking guys. Film companies cast the most muscled actors, no matter what film they will star in. And it works. Men are under more pressure than ever to attain a pumped up and glossy body image. To at least try to look a tiny bit like those godlike creatures that sell us after shave, shower gel, underwear and whatever more. It works for our hetero brothers. And it certainly works for the gay society. Dmitrij Bessalov is a 25 year old bodybuilder who was born in Lithuania where he lived all his life until 9 months ago when he moved to the UK. Dmitrij is a natural bodybuilder who only started modelling 4 months ago. He is also a professional massage therapist. Dmitrij’s main obsession is natural bodybuilding. Can you believe that in just 7 year he transformed from a skinny kid into a muscle god. For Dmitrij, training is all about symmetry, proportions and quality. It is like creating a piece of art. Today, they call it an aesthetic physique.In respect of modelling Dmitrij Bessalov is at a crossroads in respect of direction to take: muscle & fitness or fashion. Dmitrij caused a big stir with the media as a catwalk model at London fashion week earlier in September. But he also knows that if he gets any bigger, more muscular, then that will limit his working potential on the catwalk. Fortunately for Dmitrij we are truly living in the hunkvertising era, so there should be plenty of work to be found for a young handsome model like him. All he needs is a little exposure. And that is where we come in place.After a break of almost 18 months photographer Steve France returned to photographing male fitness models using his own work name MuscleSkin. During this break, he pursued his new passion for video filming. Mostly test filming until in July 2016 he discovered an amazing new talent, Russian muscle hunk - Dmitrij Bessalov. Dmitrij responded to MuslceSkin’s casting for new models to shoot on location video. Throughout July to September Steve worked extensively on video production, working a process of RAW DNG filming that allows him to simultaneously shoot photo and HD Video.

The images here are all from video 4, filmed at Canon Street Station on the River Thames in London exclusively for BeautifulMag. “I have worked at this awesome location many times,” Steve comments. “The police have now become so used to my presence there photographing muscle hunks in their underwear (note the police boat on the video). I wanted to present Dmitrij for BeautifulMag at his absolute best so the location was already set in stone. I knew Dmitrij would pose beautifully so the only decision to make was the underwear. I went for a classic bodybuilder poser in black. On the day everything just clicked into place. Dmitrij knew in advance that we were working this for BeautifulMag. He is a very intelligent model and knew exactly what to deliver. We both share a belief that good photography is a trade of time and energy from both photographer and model.” Since shooting this production Steve has worked on “PINK’,the second photo / video shoot with Dmitrij for BeautifulMag, which we published last month. Yes indeed, you did see Dmitrij before. Don’t tell me you are no obsessed by this wonderful hunk. –BM-MUSCLESKIN | BEAUTIFULMAGDMITRIJ BESSALOV | BEAUTIFULMAG

OVER THE PAST MONTHS, OR BETTER SAID BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, MEXICO HAS BEEN A MUCH DISCUSSED TOPIC. AND NOT ALWAYS IN THE BEST CONTEXT. WHICH IS REALLY A SHAME BECAUSE MEXICO IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH GENEROUS PEOPLE AND MUCH TO OFFER. FORTUNATELY WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES THINKING SO. SOME LIKE IT EVEN SO MUCH, THEY DECIDED TO MOVE THEIR AND MAKE IT THEIR SECOND HOME COUNTRY.Bruno Olvez is 32 years old and works as photographer. He's been working as photographer since 2003 after he studied the art and graduated in Advertising and Marketing in Los Angeles and Mexico. His knowledge and background in advertising clearly comes to light in his photography. His work is powerful in color and light, strong in composition and he clearly understands what it takes to create images that are both artistic and commercial. Which isn't always that easy. Some people like pure natural images, others like to retouch them. Bruno Olvez has found a perfect style – a mix between the two – that has resulted in a signature style. Portraits that are easily recognizable as Bruno Olvez work. And always an absolute pleasure for the eye. Working for several commercial clients, he always tries to find the right balance between artistic and commercial. His work with Richie though gave him total artistic freedom.Richie is one of those people who have fallen in love with Mexico so much they decided to make it their home country. Originally 27 years old Richie comes from Hungary but currently he lives, as mentioned before, in Mexico. Besides being a gorgeous man, Richie keeps himself pretty busy. He divides his time between being practising extreme sports, weight lifting, being a father and being a pastry chef, not necessarily in that order of course. A pastry chef! How can you be that and still look so divine? He definitely gives me a sweet tooth. –BM-BRUNO OLVEZ | BEAUTIFULMAG

When do you know that you are gay? Is it possible that you know before you are actually sexual active? I can’t answer the question. I can tell you this though: many young people know they are different already at young age. I did. And so did Tyrone Unsworth. Tyrone loved fashion. He also loved make up. He loved it so much that he decided to become a fashion designer. Either that or a veterinarian. Maybe not the usual interests for a 13 year old boy, but thank God he is not the only one to have dreams that differ from others. But now Tyrone doesn’t dream anymore. Because last Monday he took his own life. So Tyrone was a bit different. One might say a bit gay. One might also say a bit more sensitive. More creative. He didn’t fit in the social acceptable image the majority has of teenage boys. Does that made him a lesser human? No, it doesn’t. Then why did he have to suffer for who he was? Why did he have to be the subject of years of relentless bullying by his peers. Boys the same age as Tyrone who picked on him. Called him names like “gay-boy”, “faggot”, and “fairy”.

When I was a young boy and my interests differed from the other boys, they picked on me too. This is years ago when the word bullying wasn’t that much used. It went on for years and I’m sure grown ups must have known about it, but probably thought it was just a phase. It made me unhappy for sure, though I never had the urge to kill myself. Because of that experience I can only imagine the level of bullying Tyrone must have had to endure. It must have been devastating. No one –NO ONE – deserves to be bullied. No one deserves to be attacked, persecuted and degraded because they are different. Because of the color of their skin, because the color of their hair, because they wear glasses or because they might have a different sexual orientation which manifests itself by different interests in life.

Somehow Tyrone’s mother found the courage last week – the week she lost her beloved son – to come out and speak up. To demand attention to the heartbreaking story of Tyrone. A boy who only started his life but whose world was snatched away by relentless hate and a fear for something that is as natural as the sunrise every day except we as a species decided that it is unacceptable. We should be ashamed. And I say we because the blame doesn’t stop by his tormentors. Sure, they have a lot to answer for, and I hope they will, but what about “the others”. The ones who stood by and didn’t do anything. His school and teachers? Tyrone’s nightmare has been going on for years so don’t tell me no one knew. Oh wait, that is exactly what his school is saying. Tyrone was bullied by homophobic peers, but kids are not born like that. Homophobia is a false value taught by parents and caregivers. By society.

It happens sometimes that people become world famous in the blink of an eye. One week ago the world didn’t know Tyrone Unsworth. His mother did though. She knew him really well. Now, we do as well. Because Tyrone made international headlines by taking his own life last Monday. And together with his mother and doubtless many other people, I really, really hope it hasn’t been in vain. –BM-